Ouran Academy is an Elaborate University High catering to the ultra, ultra-rich. Haruhi Fujioka is a frumpy working class scholarship student, a rarity at the school. While searching for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles on an unused music room which turns out to be the club room for the school "Host Club" — a group of Idle Rich boys who entertain female clients in a sort of Bleached Underpants version of actual host clubs.

After accidentally knocking over a Priceless Renaissance vase that's worth 8,000,000,000¥ — far more than a working class student could possibly repay — Haruhi is forced to join the Host Club as an assistant to work off the debt. But after Haruhi proves to be a natural Host and is promoted to full member of the Host Club it becomes clear something isn't quite as it seems...

Ouran High School Host Club is a shoujo manga and anime that emphatically plays with the cliches and character types inherent in the genre. It hardly ever takes itself seriously, but at times emotions can run quite high, making for some touching moments amid all the silliness. The manga however, became more serious and deeper the longer it went on, though it never lost track of the comedy. The manga version ended in September 2010. The manga was licensed as part of Viz Media's "Shojo Beat" collection, and the anime was made available in North America by Funimation in October of 2008. In Australia, ABC3 has aired the anime many times. Both the manga and anime version of this series are well worth your attention, even if you're not part of the series' normal demographic.

Kirimi also gets this treatment in the manga, where her name is misspoken as "Creamy" and "Sashimi" and "Kill Me".

Adaptation Expansion: A minor example. In both anime and manga, Ayanokoji, the girl who bullies Haruhi early on out of jealousy is called out on by the Host Club and runs away with crocodile tears, never to be seen again. In the live-action, Haruhi follows Ayanokoji, explaining to her that she's not mad and she wants to make up. Ayanokoji regrets her behaviour and complies.

In the finale of the anime, Eclair questions Tamaki if the Host Club doesn't cause its members to sacrifice something precious such as making Kyoya's father ashamed of him and Haruhi getting less time to study for being a lawyer, next to an earlier call out by Kyoya in how Tamaki doesn't consider the expense or extensive shipping it takes to bring some of their theme costumes or accessories from other countries to their school. In the manga, none of this is ever addressed, and Kyoya's father is shown to be aware and accepting of Kyoya being in the Host Club. Also, he never makes a comment on wanting Haruhi to become Kyoya's fiancee.

The anime is generally quite loyal to the manga, though things are blown even further out of the water, and a couple of subtle character alterations do stand out — for example, making the twins and Kyoya more sympathetic earlier on and, strangely enough, making Honey less so, as the end of the episode "Chika's Down with Honey Declaration" deliberately inverts the manga chapter's denouement.

Also, bananas and strawberries.

In the anime, only Hikaru falls for Haruhi; in the manga, Kaoru falls for her as well.

The live action drama has some of this too. Renge is only seen in one episode, and the Halloween contest, the Refreshing Point competition at the hostel, The Zuka Club, and Kasanoda are nowhere to be seen.

In the manga, when Tamaki first comes to Japan he's given a puppy as a welcome gift by his new staff, a Golden Retriever which he names Antoinette. In the anime, she's a dog he randomly buys at a pet store in Episode 17.

In the anime, Haruhi is told as early as Episode 25 (which is the equivalent of Chapter 25-26 of the manga) that her dept has been paid. In the manga, the last time her debt is brought up is in Chapter 75, to which it still isn't paid, and Tamaki offers to pay the remaining sum for her.

Parodied in the episode introducing Renge, who thinks that the club members need more angst. She tries to recast Hikaru and Kaoru as basketball players torn between brotherly love and the love of the game, Honey as an Enfante Terrible with Mori as his right-hand man, and Tamaki as a lonesome, stoic Sheltered Aristocrat.

The short bonus story where we're introduced to a Honey grown up to the size of the twins in only two months. The Host Club are shocked to find out he stayed as short as he was because Kyoya had been feeding him anti-growth pills, because if he'd been tall he'd just overlap as the Dumb Blonde with Tamaki. It then cuts to Haruhi telling them all it's what she dreamt last night, to which the guys, especially Tamaki and Kyoya, aren't very pleased. It ends with Kyoya asking a frightened Haruhi if they can have a serious talk about how she perceives his character.

All Work VS All Play: Haruhi vs. Tamaki, a hardworking scholarship student vs a fobbish Dandy. Then again, Haruhi vs. the entire Host Club except Kyoya qualifies as he does the club's finances and remains the most 'sane'.

Anger Born of Worry: Tamaki gets angry at Haruhi during the Beach episode because she confronted two bullies by herself without even trying to call any of the guys for help, even though they were nearby.

Animal-Eared Headband: Ritsu Kasanoda is briefly shown wearing cat ears as part of his attempt to be less scary. It doesn't work.

Tamaki shares a lot of the attributes of a dog (he also is a dog lover). It's especially funny when after his and Haruhi's kiss in Chapter 83, he's so happy that he proceeds to subtly lick her forehead, (just like a happy dog does?)

Haruhi is often made fun of by the other members for her apparent resemblance to a "tanuki" (raccoon dog).

The twins again are sometimes portrayed as being as sneaky and "devilish" as cats (which just adds to the humor to their relationship to Tamaki).

Anime Accent Absence: Eclair and Renge can speak fluent Japanese, despite there being little to no indication that they had been required to learn it. The same goes for Tamaki, as he moved to Japan when he was fourteen, but he at least has a bit of an excuse...

Anti-Hero: Renge tried to turn the "characters" of the Host Club into these in "Attack of the Lady Manager!" to attract more customers. She insists that "shadowy sides" will be a big hit.

Anti-Villain: Eclair — while she had attempted to take Tamaki away from the Host Club, she did so out of love, and had decent reasons for attempting so: reunite him with his mom, her caretaker, Sophie. In the end, she let him go save Haruhi.

In "And So Kyoya Met Him", the words "third son" are mentioned quite a few times.

Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Episode 5 had the twins list off complaints against one another. In something of a blink-and-you miss it overlap with Self-Deprecation, their last complaint, spoken in unison: "Your mother wears too much make-up."

Art Evolution: Just compare first chapter Haruhi [1]◊ to a later flashback of that same scene [2]◊!

Art Shift: The anime's opening (for the most part) has slightly more stylized animation than in the show proper. Also done hilariously with Tamaki in Episode 19 for two brief moments.

Babies Ever After: Not shown in either anime or manga, but the author hints in the final volume that Tamaki and Haruhi are the first out of the Host Club members to have children. Mori apparently got married and had kids too (and he'd be the first to congratulate Tamaki and Haruhi when they became parents).

Littered all over in the anime (never in the manga) for comedic purpose. Early episodes showed characters eating bananas but in later episodes peels appeared out of nowhere.

Tamaki slipped on one in a flasback in the Halloween chapters in the manga.

Tamaki slipped on one while standing still in the 'Zuka Club' episode.

The “Haruhi In Wonderland” episode was positively littered with these. There was much slippage.

Bastard Angst: Tamaki is the illegitimate son of a Japanese man and a French woman. His Evil Matriarch grandmother brought him to France in exchange for paying for her financial troubles and forbade him from ever having contact with her again. Despite this, his grandmother still treats Tamaki like crap, always reminding him that he's "filthy."

The following episode has them going to a real beach, per Haruhi's disinterest in indoor beaches. Of course it's a private beach, on Okinawa, and only because Haruhi doesn't have a passport so they can't go to Bali.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Both in and out of universe: everyone thought/expected that whenever Tamaki'd get around to realize his true feelings for Haruhi, he'd get a grip on himself and become more mature towards her, which he does... at first. A flashback shows him hilariously freaking out recalling how many times he called himself her father, thinking how much of an idiot he had been because of it. Afterwards he appears to have grown out of his said idiocy, only it turns out to have been a Heroic B.S.O.D. instead. After coming out of that however, he turns into a bigger idiot than he was before (again, surprising people both in and out of universe), as a result of celebrating his "new self" who "knows the meaning of love", bragging about how Haruhi most likely returns his feelings, or even if she doesn't, it's just a "love test made for him by God", which he keeps rubbing in all of the guys' faces, especiallyHikaru's. Then again (and thankfully), it only lasts for two chapters.

Behind the Black: In one episode, Haruhi tries to make sense of the mysterious, sudden appearance of a grand piano. Honey replies that "It was there before, it was just where you couldn't see it." (They are, after all, in what is ostensibly a music room.)

Don't even think about trying to harm Haruhi, Mori, or Honey's Usa-chan, or Honey will tear you a new one. Guaranteed.

It's one thing to dress Haruhi up cutely, but hit on her when an overprotective Tamaki's watching, and God have mercy on your soul.

If Tamaki thinks that you might have hurt Haruhi in any way, you'd best hope there's a camera crew watching or else you'll end up a not-so-tasteful stain in the concrete. Violence isn't good publicity for a host club.

When you come right down to it, don't touch Haruhi. Those boys love her, in their own weird way, and will team up to send you into next week. "Beware the Physical Exam!" is possibly the best illustration of this; when they mistakenly think she's being assaulted, they leave her would-be attacker pleading for his life.

Haruhi hates when people tear her away from anyone, if the outburst toward the main antagonist is any indication.

Also, don't use or take any of Haruhi's belongings (from photos to pencils) without her permission.

Kyoya cares so much about his friends he's not above bitching out Tamaki's father for using Tamaki's desire to see his mother again.

As shown in the bonus chapter taking place in Spain, it's not a good idea to ask Kyoya if he and Tamaki are a gay couple.

Betty and Veronica: Though very much in the anime only, with all the boys still having their days in the limelight within it, it ups the Ship Tease between Kyouya and Haruhi just a bit, and Tamaki and Kyouya's fathers imply the possibility that Tamaki is Betty and Kyouya is Veronica in the last episode.

Beware the Silly Ones: Tamaki's about as hammy as they can get, but make him worried about someone he cares about? He'll make you sorely regret it, and not always in a comedy style. In the manga, he actually punches one of the guys he believes to have harassed Haruhi early on, to the point blood is shown. In the anime this was toned down to pinning him against the wall.

Big Damn Reunion: Towards the end of the manga, the Host Club and everyone's Tamaki's helped throughout the series helps him get to the airport in time so he can see his mother for the first time in three years.

Big Little Brother: Honey's "little" brother Yasuchika, who towers over him by something like two feet.

Big "NO!": Almost a Running Gag. Haruhi usually have these whenever the Host Club intrudes on her plans. In the final chapter, this is her last line as a reaction to the rest of the Host Club following her and Tamaki to America. She even says it in English.

Bishie Sparkle: Used liberally in the manga and occasionally in the anime, too. The TV series provides a rare live-action example.

Bishōnen: The narration at the beginning of the first episode uses the word.

When we get a glimpse of Kyoya's desktop he is not only using an undisguised Mac OS, we can also clearly see icons for Skype, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.

Bleached Underpants: Tamaki has a rather sanitized and family-friendly concept of what a host club is. While the gist is the same - offering girls the opportunity to spend time with attractive young men who pamper and flatter them - in Tamaki's version the guys do it out of an honest interest in making their clients happy, rather than working for the commission they earn by encouraging their clients to buy drink after expensive drink in return for their time.

Book Ends: The manga begins and ends with Haruhi opening a door with the rest of the club greeting her on the other side, although Haruhi is standing in a hallway at the beginning and is in a room at the end.

In the manga, you can see Kyoya say "I thought I wasn't going to appear in this chapter" and others pointing out that they're well aware that they're in a manga. Haruhi also seems to talk to the audience, and the twins refer to "the readers" frequently.

In the third episode of the anime, Tamaki states outright that "this anime is a clearly a romantic comedy" and that therefore "Haruhi and I must be loveinterests!"

Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Happens more than once, but the most tear jerk-worthy incident is probably the one with Hikaru and Kaoru in the manga. They both realize their feelings for Haruhi and, because of their different attitudes regarding it, ends up temporarily separating from each other by Kaoru moving into Honey's house and Hikaru into Mori's, along with hardly speaking to each other at school. Eventually however, Kaoru tells Hikaru that he believes his feelings for Haruhi turned out to be more platonic, and he'll be cheering Hikaru on from that point. He then proceeds to tell Hikaru they should start separating more such as get different bedrooms and quit their "twincest" act at the club, mainly because he secretly feels he's "in the way" for Hikaru and only by separating from him, "Hikaru can be free". In the morning, Kaoru finds Hikaru having dyed his hair dark, explaining to Kaoru that they're still twins which is a gift, and forcing separation upon themselves isn't a solution, rather, if they continue to grow together while also embracing their differences more then "a future twice as fun as other people's awaits us! Didn't you know... that's why twins are born?" complete with a bromantic Headbutt of Love to mark the end of the scene, and their dilemma.

Brick Joke: During Kasanoda's flashback in "Mori-Sempai Has An Apprentice!", one of the words that Kasanoda's father is teaching his son to speak to sound more "gangster-like" is "Ma". Confused and furious, Kasanoda gives up in rage, questioning when in the world he would ever need a word like "Ma". Cue the end of the episode, Kasanoda stumbles upon Haruhi (who, for the longest time, he thought was a guy), who's changing in the music room. It turns out she isn't a guy. (See First-Episode Spoiler below.) Guess what's the only word that he can say to this discovery?

Bros Before Hoes: Kaoru stepped down from pursuing Haruhi romantically in favor for letting Hikaru pursue her instead, so that Hikaru could grow to become more mature and independent. Kaoru had also realized his feelings for Haruhi weren't as strong as he had thought, at least, not as strong as Hikaru's.

In the first episode of the anime, Tamaki tells Haruhi that people always say that he's "dripping with good looks". She repeats this back to him in the last episode.

During the final chapter, there's one to Chapter 2 — Haruhi dances with Kanako, and does much better. There's also a couple in the final two episodes of the anime.

Chapter 81: Tamaki jumps into a fountain to retrieve tickets to an amusement park, and accidentally ends up pulling Haruhi in as well. Haruhi then lampshades it by pointing out how the first time they were alone together was in a fountain, when she had lost her purse and he helped her look for it. The scene ends with Tamaki telling her he loves her, while they're still in the fountain. D'awww.

Paired with Everyone Can See It when he actually tries to confess his feelings. Every single girl in the Host Club at the time watches with bated breath, only for the disappointment when it all goes south.

Catapult Nightmare: The first few pages of Chapter 79 involve Haruhi standing in front of Tamaki blushing, and looking at the ground. She then says "Tamaki-senpai... I'm in love with you." (The squee of many a fangirl was heard.) Tamaki looks stunned, but then goes off saying that he's so happy because he's in love with himself, too! He takes this and runs with it. Haruhi looks mortified, but then she sits up and we find out it was All Just a Dream, much to her relief.

Caught in a Snare: The "net" version of this trope happens in the episode with the test of courage.

Cerebus Syndrome: The manga starts to delve into dramatic territory around the fifth or sixth volume, but tries not to sacrifice the funny. Around volume eleven or twelve, things get even more serious, though the jokes aren't completely gone. This was probably (more or less) of the intended variety.

Character Development: Tamaki, Haruhi and the twins especially grow as the story develops. It's more visible in the manga because it's longer than the anime.

Charm Point: Mori is an odd case since his Charm Point is another character. When the club tries to instruct a delinquent that a Charm Point can work wonders for one's image, they bluntly point out that without Honey around people would see Mori as just a huge scary thug who barely talks, much to the latter's distress. Because Honey is there, Mori is instead seen as a Gentle Giant.

Close on Title: The episode about Kaoru and Hikaru meeting Tamaki for the first time, "The Door the Twins Opened", saves its title card for the closing scene, after the twins open the door to the Host Club's room.

Usually Tamaki, but most of the characters have had one of these moments.

Haruhi has also done this multiple times from the beginning: when she broke the vase and found out how much it was worth as well as when she finds out the Host Club followed her to the inn where she was working.

Happens a fair amount to the twins and sometimes Hani and Mori when Kyoya points out something about Haruhi's situation. Haruhi can fall victim to it thanks to Kyoya as well herself. Tamaki, of course, is highly susceptible to these same colour failures. Kyoya himself is subjected once or twice when everyone is (such as when Yabu is said to be headed to the special boy's clinic or when Kirimi points out a "reverse harem"), once even having a crack appear in his glasses.

"Lovely protagonists like us are never subject to time~! (author note: there will be no moving up in grades)"

Messed with in Chapter 71 by Honey, Mori and Nekozawa all lament their impending graduation in their own way, to the shock of the Genre Savvy Haruhi. Notably, the cessation of the manga's Comic-Book Time coincides with its Cerebus Syndrome reaching full onset.

In general: the series ran for eight years, but only a little more than a year passed in-universe (as shown by Haruhi eventually moving up one grade a few chapters before the finale).

"Senpai, would you please stop growing mushrooms in other people's closets?!"

"I'm making a hamster home..."

His father is known to do this as well when he's upset.

Cosplay: As a part of their "job", the Host Club regularly changes their outfits and music room's decorations into various themes (ancient Japan, tropical island, etc), maintaining appropriate temperature by air conditioning - which was, loosely citing Tamaki, "invented specially for those kinds of things".

Cosplay Café: The titular "Host Club" is actually more like one of these because of all the outfits and G-rated service.

Cosplay Otaku Girl: Renge, who at one point is said to have created a hugely popular doujinshi about the hosts. Heck, the main reason she came to the host club is because Kyoya looked (eerily) similar to her favorite character on a dating sim she plays.

Costume Porn: Said cosplay outfits are, as can be expected, very fancy and/or stylish.

Creepy Twins: Hikaru and Kaoru are often eerily reminiscent of (siamese cat pair) Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp. They're more reminiscent of the twins from The Shining... just watch their childhood/coming-of-age episode! It's less so in the manga.

Crossdresser: Played with until its stitching ruptured. It's played straight with Ranka and Haruhi, subverted with Benibara, parodied/played for laughs with the host boys (consider that they are thoroughly bishounen and would have no trouble looking like girls in the average anime) and Kasanoda, and (shockingly) played somewhat seriously when Ranka appears without having shaved or made himself up. Oh, and lampshaded when the girls of Ouran talk about how much they'd love to see Haruhi-kun in girls' clothing. Way too much fun.

Culture Clash: The rich elite-poor commner angle is played for laughs. The hosts, and especially Tamaki, are amazed by things like "commoner coffee" and Haruhi snarks at the over-the-top excess.

Cursed with Awesome: Oh, no! I've broken a vase, and to pay off my debt, I have to hang out with a bunch of well-mannered, cultured, downright hilarious, and dashingly handsome guys and meet rich girls who wouldn't give me a second look otherwise? Whatever will I do??? In fairness, the guys might be funny to watch but they could still be quite hard to live with. Don'teven getstarted on the girls.

Cute Bookworm: Although we rarely see Haruhi read, it's often mentioned it's what she used to spend most of her time doing, and occasionally still does as soon a she gets her break from the Host Club.

Dark Is Not Evil: Everything about Nekozawa is ridiculously "dark". He lives in a dark Gothic mansion, wears a black cloak, listens to ominous, creepy music, deals with the occult, is surrounded by black roses and even his maid and butler look like vampiric murderers. In the manga, his club and it's members even join in on the fun by looking like straight out of a horror flick set in victorian England. He's actually a pretty nice guy.

The rest of the Host Club get in Paper Thin Disguises to peep on Haruhi's dates with Hikaru and Tamaki.

They save Haruhi from the Zuka Club and saves her and Tamaki's date.

Dating What Daddy Hates: As if Ranka didn't have trouble enough with Tamaki moving in on Haruhi before, he's anything else but pleased discovering that the two are a couple in Chapter 82. He's even less pleased with Tamaki going to America with her. Don't worry, it's totally Played for Laughs.

Kinda lampshaded in the manga where the author even points out that Ranka is almost creepily similar to Tamaki, they even kind of look similar when looking at how Ranka looked back when he met Haruhis mother.

Lady Eclair in the anime is introduced as cold-hearted but then it's revealed she was already defrosted by Tamaki's mother, who is her caretaker in addition to being her friend. She is then defrosted further by Tamaki himself.

Tamaki's grandmother in the manga begins as an Evil Matriarch but is also defrosted by Tamaki with thoughtful action on a piano.

Different for Girls: Haruhi averts this early on in the manga, as she is already using the masculine pronoun "ore" by the second chapter.

Discriminate and Switch: When Haruhi didn't take her dad to Take Your Parent To School Day, her dad and his co-worker assumed it was because he's a transvestite. Later, the co-worker brought her dad home piss-drunk due to how upset he was about not being told about the school event, which causes Haruhi to reveal that she didn't say a thing because she felt he was overworked and wanted him to use the opportunity to rest.

Down the Rabbit Hole: Not only does Haruhi compare the experience of being in the Host Club to being in another world, but the door to the music room heavily symbolizes this in several episodes. There is also an episode that directly parodies Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. By the end, she says that around here, it's hard to tell when she's asleep or awake.

Drop-In Character: Renge is more of a rise-out-of-the-floor-on-a-pedestal character. This is lampshaded by Haruhi, who in one episode points out that the mechanism used to elevate Renge seems to follow them around.

Dysfunction Junction: They’re pretty mild compared to some of the lengths this trope can go to, but all of the main characters and many minor characters have major personality quirks because of, or are entirely driven by, bizarre or unhappy childhoods or events in their family history (with the arguable exception of Mori).

Earn Your Happy Ending: For Tamaki and Kyoya in the last two episodes of the series. Tamaki has to deal with some heavy and long standing family issues before he can have a happy family and relationship with Haruhi. Kyoya has to fight an attempt on his father's company while dealing with his "third son" situation.

The Host Club and Haruhi especially gives Tamaki this in Chapter 68 of the manga, making him realize that no matter what happens, if he (unbeknowst to Haruhi) decides to pursue her romantically, the Host Club will not be broken.

Haruhi gives this to all three Suohs towards the end of the manga: Tamaki, his father and his grandmother, by making them aware that the main source behind their family's issues is that none of them ever talks about their problems between one another.

Averted in Chapter 83, where not a single person is surprised when they see Haruhi in a party dress... and are then dumbfounded when they learn that she really is a girl and not a crossdressing boyin love with Tamaki.

Played straight with Tamaki's backstory, which their customers reveals in one of the final chapters to have been aware of, but they were fine with it because of his kind nature.

Everyone Can See It: Subtly in the anime, but much more obvious in the manga. After Haruhi realizes her feelings for Tamaki it's unbelievably obvious to everyone EXCEPT him. Honey and Mori seemed to be the first to notice Hikaru's and Kaoru's budding feelings for Haruhi, as well. Kyoya may have seen it, too.

Initially parodied by Hikaru and Kaoru when they dye their hair pink and blue after a staged fight because they were bored. Played straight later in the manga when Hikaru dyes his hair darker after he and Kaoru have a real fight. This is a big turning point for them and shows that they permanently want to be seen as separate people. They even move into separate bedrooms.

Haruhi's hair is a mess on the first appearance, which adds to her masculine and poor appearance. The Host Club gives her a hairstyle which makes her look boyishly cute. Flashbacks show she used to wear her hair in a waist-length Hime Cut which made her look very feminine indeed. The original cut is later explained away as being a self-inflicted emergency cut after Haruhi got gum in her hair.

In the bonus chapters taking place after the main story has ended, Haruhi is shown to let her hair grow long again, possibly to symbolize her complete transformation to femininityafter having fallen in love with Tamaki and eventually becoming his girlfriend. However, it's not in a Hime Cut as before, but a more natural style (which every fan agreed suited her much better).

In the anime at least, Tamaki's mother's face is not shown in flashbacks or pictures including her. This goes for the same moments in the manga, though her face is eventually revealed later on.

Likewise with Kyoya's two brothers, who are often mentioned and shown in flashbacks, but whose faces are never shown. In the manga, his brother Akito eventually gets a few brief appearances, though his third brother remains unseen.

Failure Is the Only Option: Tamaki getting Haruhi to be feminine because of her "do not care" attitude and the fact that she's paying off her debt by pretending to be a boy.

Fanservice: Lampshaded due to the fact that the entire point of the Host Club is to provide it to the in-universe fangirls.

Faux Horrific: Tamaki has a nightmare about the squalor that he fears Haruhi might be living in.

Faux Yay: The hosts' go-to act to make all the girls squee. Kaoru and Hikaru are the most blatant offenders, but Honey and Mori to some extent, as well as Tamaki in a pinch.

Fear of Thunder: Haruhi. Her phobia is so severe it's utterly debilitating and it is one of the few things that is never played for laughs.

Fiction 500: Most of the cast. The Host Club is filthy rich, meaning that if Rule of Cool allows something, they will simply pay reason to take a hike. One character owns a beach, for example, an indoor beach (yeah they are real, but would cost a fortune).

Fireball Eyeballs: The female customers gets flaming eyes when they're really fired up about something - usually a particularly adorable Moe moment involving the hosts. It turns into a somewhat bizarre plot-point during the episodes starring Ritsu Kasanoda, a young Yakuza Boss whose icy glare normally freezes anyone who comes near him. He winds up being Sweet on Polly Oliver, causing all the girls to get fired up about the perceived Yaoi romance, and even when he turns his icy glare on them, their fiery intensity melts it on the spot. "Don't underestimate the flames of MOE!"

First-Episode Spoiler: Just try describing the series to someone without giving away the fact that Haruhi is a girl. While it's certainly possible in many languages (including Japanese) the plot makes little sense if Haruhi's true gender isn't known.

Fish out of Water: Haruhi, every time she's confronted with one of the more outrageous aspects of the club's ultra-rich lifestyle. Conversely, the boys often show fish out of water tendencies when they step out of their world to visit Haruhi in hers. Even uber-cool Kyoya is ultimately perplexed by some of the commoner things at the trade exhibition.

At one point in the manga, Kaoru mentions how he and Hikaru always likes the same things and because of it, he wonders what they would do if they someday liked something there only existed one example of. Not long after, he realizes that both he and Hikaru are in love with Haruhi. Eventually though, Kaoru figures his feelings for Haruhi aren't as strong as Hikaru's, and he pulls back.

In Episode 10, when Haruhi's speaking fondly of her mother, Tamaki briefly gets a sad expression on his face and turns all awkward. One might have just assumed he felt sad for her sake, until it turns out he's forbidden from seeing his own mother ever again. Haruhi speaking of her mother in such a manner probably triggered him to be reminded of it.

When Tamaki's grandmother is first introduced in the manga, there's a very subtle hint towards her hidden kind self: when Yuzuru (Tamaki's father) points out to her that it's the first time she's referred to Tamaki as his son, and she gets a subtle flustered reaction because of it.

Free-Fall Romance: In the final episode when Haruhi falls off of a bridge while trying to convince Tamaki not to leave for France and he jumps off after her. It's a slow-motion fall that's quite romantic until the splash.

Friend to All Children: Tamaki. The children who appears in the series (including the little sister the twins are revealed to get in a bonus page at the end), all quickly adores him.

Friend to Bugs: Haruhi, as implied in Episode 8 when she finds a centipete on a crab and, instead of killing it, she simply picks it up and throws it aside. When asked if she could have been easier on it, she said "it takes a lot more than that to kill a bug."

"Debauchery! There's debauchery here! Yay!" From a tiny three year old girl. Who looks ridiculously Moe and took ...three seconds?... to realize exactly what the Host Club is. It's justified too: one of her maids reads her Shoujo manga.

When Shirou first meets Haruhi, he asks "Are you a crossdresser?" when he realizes that Haruhi acts more like a girl than a guy.

When the customers playfully push Tamaki and Haruhi towards one another in the final chapter, revealing they know about them, Kasanoda can be seen in the back, having a horrified reaction.

Gecko Ending: In the anime, there is a climatic arc focusing on an anime only character. It's unknown what state Haruhi's debt is in at that point but it serves to show that she would remain with the Host Club regardless of it.

Gender-Blender Name: Haruhi, otherwise the game would have been over the first time she introduced herself.

Generation Xerox: Haruhi/Tamaki resemble Ryouji/Kotoko (Haruhi's parents) a good deal in regards to their personalities, though also with some differences; Kotoko fell in love with Ryouji rather quickly (apparently it was even Love at First Sight for her) and they subsequently married after only having met a few times. Haruhi spent almost a year in the Host Club before realizing she'd fallen for Tamaki, and even then it would take a few more months before they confessed and became a couple. Kotoko also liked cute things, and was even a secret fan of the Lobelia school.

Genius Ditz: Tamaki. Despite being an Idiot Hero, he's second best in his class (only beaten by Kyoya), plays professional piano and can see through a person's problems almost right away (he just can't see his own for the life of him).

There are two instances in the manga where one of the twins can be seen Flipping the Bird.

In the first episode of the anime, the fountain where Haruhi ends up looking for her purse have several shots focusing on the statue in the middle which is of a boy clearly holding his penis while "peeing" (in the style of many classical fountains, most famously the Mannekin Pis of Brussels).

The end of Episode 8: the Host Club finds Haruhi and Tamaki alone in a dark room, where Tamaki is showing her ways of dealing better with thunder such as wearing a cover over her eyes. The Host Club however, thinks he's tricking her into playing "SM games", "SM" meaning crude sexual activities where the man plays a dominant role.

In Episode 11, when Renge asks Mori to add another forbidden word for Nekozawa to use on the cardboard, look closely and one of the previous sentences he's written down are "Kama Sutra".

In the indoors tropical island episode, when Tamaki is evasdropping on Haruhi trying out bathing suits.

Haruhi: Eh? But that's nothing more than a couple of strings! [Tamaki faints]

In the Halloween episode, it touches on Innocent Innuendo when Haruhi and Hikaru are stuck in a net together; the noises they make trying to get out while it cuts to Tamaki tearfully watching them are... interesting. No wonder he was crying.

The Glasses Gotta Go: The first step to Haruhi's transformation into a pretty "boy" is losing her huge, clunky glasses.

Gratuitous Greek: pausing on the Greek test Tamaki walks into in Episode 5 shows a bunch of Greek text scrolling through the screen. However, if you understand Greek, it's not hard to notice that most are random strings of Greek letters.

Ayanokoji, in the very first episode, harrasses Haruhi for taking Tamaki's attention away from her.

Hikaru towards Arai (old school friend of Haruhi) and later towards Tamaki (when noticing Haruhi's feelings for him). Tamaki is this towards Arai at first too, but later brushes it off when he takes a liking to him.

Haruhi is subtly this towards Eclair in the last episodes of the anime, and more canonly so towards Kanoya in Chapters 65-68 of the manga, the latter to which she even admits in the end to have felt jealous.

Guile Hero: Kyoya is a schemer and cunning enough to buy out his father's company before someone else could.

Gyaru Girl: Haruhi's friend Mei is a dark tanned girl who reads magazines for 'gals in love'. She is a amateur fashion designer, who focuses on love and hobbies more than her summer homework.

With Tamaki on two occasions. First time is after he's realized his feelings for Haruhi (reason being he's afraid what it will do to the Host Club if he pursues her), and second time is when he learns how his father went behind his grandmother's back and had her fired.

The last episode of the anime counts too considering Tamaki. If you've read the manga to beyond chapter 80, the similarities between the chapters beforehand and the anime's end is quite striking.

Played with regarding every character, parodied in one of Renge's early episodes.

Chapter 55, where Tamaki tells Haruhi pieces of his childhood backstory, causing her to realize the reason he made the Host Club in the first place was to honor his mother's wish of him always remaining in good spirits so she would be happy, to which he expanded on the wish by wanting to make other women happy as well.

Hopeless Suitor: Hikaru, and for a short period, Kaoru too, because Haruhi is oblivious to love and in any case becomes interested in Tamaki.

Hypercompetent Sidekick: Kyoya, again to Tamaki. He's the one that makes all of Tamaki's outlandish plans both practical and profitable.

Hypocritical Humour: Tamaki falls for Haruhi while he's still under the impression she's a boy, and openly and unashamedly flirts with her without any sign of Gayngst. Later, in the first Zuka Club episode, seeing Benibara try to seduce Haruhi sets him off screaming "Don't you see there's nothing to be gained in a romantic relationship between two women?! If that were the case then why did God create Adam and Eve?!"

I Choose to Stay: In both the anime and manga, Haruhi is eventually told (though at very different times and occasions) that her debt has been paid and she's free to leave the Host Club, however, she's grown to love all the guys and their events together so much that she stays with them.

Iconic Outfit: Haruhi's first appearance is a wee bit... unflattering. She goes back to her frumpy outfit in Chapter 76 of the manga to protest the banning of the host club and send a message to Tamaki, who has been forbidden to talk to her. Looking back at Chapter 1 with the same outfit it's easier to see some Art Evolution, too.

Idiot Hero: Playing with a Trope in Tamaki's case. He's a charming well meaning buffon, who nonetheless gets excellent grades. He is insightful to other people's problems but blind to his own. Somehow, he thought his affection for Haruhi was as a father.

I Let You Win: Subverted. Mori, having watched many of their battles, predicts that Honey will purposely lose to his brother in their last fight. However, cake is on the line and Honey shows no mercy.

In-universe example during the Beach Episode. Mori attempts to frighten Haruhi using a harpoon (the Japanese word for harpoon being mori). It's hilariously lampshaded.

Another in-universe example in Chapter 64 of the manga, where Tamaki is going through a trauma regarding his feelings, resulting in him first going to a zoo to look at tigers, and then arranging for the next Host Club activity to be at a riding center with horses. Thinking through this, the twins realize that putting together the words for the two animals (tora=tiger and uma=horse) you get "torauma" (in japanese becoming "trauma").

Indentured Servitude: Haruhi is forced to join the host club to work off her debts after she breaks a ridiculously expensive vase in the first chapter.

Indirect Kiss: Invoked the first time (Episode 4, with a cookie) to troll Tamaki, defied (three guesses as to who) the second time (with ice cream).

Indy Ploy: What most of Tamaki's "cunning" plans start off as or eventually turn into, thanks to his rather impulsive nature. Want to know a funny thing, though? They work. EVEN AGAINST KYOYA.

Invisible Writing: Tamaki's father sends him messages in invisible ink (made with lemon juice). The club believes that the messages come from the person sending them threatening letters and hilarity ensues.

In Episode 17, Haruhi and Kyoya continually trade lines with each other in this fashion.

In the first episode, Haruhi asks the girl who's been bullying her if she's jealous, causing the latter to promptly snap and make an overblown attempt of putting Haruhi in a bad light. In the last episode, she asks Eclair Tonerre the exact same question, who merely responds "My, well said." in a calm manner. (She had also asked Haruhi earlier if she was jealous.)

A lot of this in the series, though a big one is probably how Tamaki spends a good lot of the show fantasizing about a girly Haruhi and doing his best to transform her into such, and continuously failing, all for randomness and comedic purposes to the viewers/readers. However, as the story progresses and Haruhi finds herself in love with him (while he remains completely clueless to this), she gradually turns more into a woman, all of her own. Benibara from the Zuka club points this out in Chapter 82, shortly after Haruhi and Tamaki have become a couple, that she now "totally and utterly looks like a girl". So in the end, Tamaki did succeed in making Haruhi more feminine, it just happened when he wasn't trying to.

Also, when Haruhi first realizes her feelings for Tamaki, she briefly gets depressed when thinking how she looks like a boy, and subsequently thinks how Tamaki only sees her as his daughter. Yep, you read it right.

This is played straight when a transfer student named Kanoya arrives at their school, who is introduced when Tamaki saves her from getting kicked by a horse, causing her to crush on him and continuously sticking with him the following days. The rest of the Host Club notice she bears some distinct physical resemblence to Haruhi, and to add to it, she's completely onboard with Tamaki's "romantic fantasies" they present to her, making them realize it's the "real-life version" of the imaginary Haruhi in Tamaki's mind. Tamaki however, states he doesn't think they're similar at all, and shows no interest in her whatsoever.

In an early chapter, an author note states "I can't see Haruhi and Tamaki getting together." The second-to-last page of the entire series is of Haruhi and Tamaki on their wedding day, with an author note stating "Of course, I think the two will get married."

Also, when Tamaki keeps referring to himself and Haruhi getting married after they've become a couple, Haruhi frantically reminds him that they're too young and marriage is far away in the future. However, jugding by the bonus page that actually shows them getting married they don't appear to have aged much, and if the online translation of the "Ghost Special" where they're all college students is to be trusted, Tamaki is referred to as Haruhi's husband there, meaning they waited no longer than two years. Awww.

The first Host Club member to get married is Honey! To a member of the Dark Magic Club! Didn't see that one coming, did you?

It's Always Spring: Humorously averted in that it is always whatever season is most convenient for the plot at hand, especially in episodes entirely indoors. The original creator admits to abandoning a hard timeline in a few chapters of the manga.

Haruhi and her dad's penchant for cross-dressing and Tamaki and his dad's ability to sweet-talk anyone. The Corner of Woe, along with several other of Tamaki's more eccentric traits (though his father's versions tend to be at least a little more watered down).

Tamaki apparently inherited the interests in kotatsus from his mother.

Hikaru and Kaoru's mother also enjoys playing games just as they do (she happens to enjoy the "Which one is Hikaru?" game). They also inherited their mother's (and badass grandma's) affinity for fashion design.

Tamaki and his grandmother both appreciate music and historical samurai dramas, this is what brings his grandmother out of her depression and helps her to appreciate her grandson.

As Haruhi lampshades towards the end of the series, Tamaki, his father and his grandmother are all similar in how none of them confronts their problems by openly talking about them, but hides behind masks and attempts to cover over it in ultimately self-hurting ways.

Haruhi's mother also fell for an energetic, emotional guy with idiot tendensies, and realized it after he kissed her goodbye on the porch of her home...

Honey's little brother may not have any interest in cakes and plush animals as he says, but present him with baby animals, and his self-control will drop just as quickly.

In the manga Kaoru tells Haruhi he loves her, but he has someone else more important to him that he can't hurt. He steps out of the battlefield and lets Hikaru be the one to fight for Haruhi.

In Chapter 76 Hikaru says that this new obstacle in Haruhi and Tamaki's friendship gives him an advantage against Tamaki in winning her heart. Kaoru looks shocked and apalled until Hikaru says he was just kidding and says "Don't you think it would be a waste if I said I don't really wish for this to happen?" It's quite clear he doesn't want to see either of his friends miserable.

In Chapter 80 When Haruhi says she's going to be an obstacle to their rescue and that she's having doubts about her abilities, Hikaru tells her that it hurts, but she's the one who knows Tamaki the best and vice versa and because of that, she must go escort him to the airport. Awwwww.

I Want to Be a Real Man: Honey tried this for a while by acting all stoic and anti-cute. It didn't work. Tamaki encouraged him to embrace his inner cuteness.

Kotatsu: Tamaki likes these a lot, just ask Kyoya. It must run in the family because Tamaki's mother asks Kyoya if he owns one when he met her on a class trip to France. Kotatsu are often used to symbolize close, warm family relationships, which is something they both desire very much.

Renge counts too. Even Tamaki appears tired of her at times, which says alot.

Late-Arrival Spoiler: Haruhi is a girl, but given that this is revealed at the end of the first manga chapter and first anime episode, it's not all that surprising that all the blurbs on the back of the manga volumes and DVDs tell you straight away.

Legacy of Service: Mori comes from a family with a long line of serving the Haninozuka clan. The master-servant bond was dispelled when the families were joined by marriage, but Mori still watches over and protects Honey like a big brother would.

Like an Old Married Couple: When the twins visits Karuizawa to help Tamaki and Haruhi taking care of the place, they're met by Tamaki freaking out by a sinister-looking Haruhi scolding him for not doing his chores properly.

Love Chart: Hikaru makes one in the manga with him, Kaoru, Tamaki, and Haruhi. Renge makes one later on, too (although Kaoru's not included on that one).

Love Epiphany: Quite a few of these in the manga. Haruhi's is rather funny and adorable because until then she was completely Oblivious to Love and at first thought her sudden blushing and flustering around her Love Interest were due to a cold or her heart rejecting her.

Tamaki probably holds the record for number of these blushes from a male shoujo protagonist.

Haruhi has alot of them too upon realizing she's in love with Tamaki.

Manic Pixie Dream Guy: Tamaki to the Host Club as a whole. He's the zany happy guy that helps them through their issues.

Maybe Ever After: The anime doesn't doesn't definitively state whether Haruhi will end up with Tamaki or Hikaru, though it does give some pretty strong hints. With Kyoya's father saying he likes her for Kyoya too...another relatively strong contender?

Meaningful Echo: Episode 17 is full of it, with Kyouya and Haruhi constantly quoting something the other said earlier to prove that the other is wrong about something or different than they believe. Especially Haruhi delivers not one, not two, but three meaningful echos to prove that Kyouya is actually a lot like Tamaki.

Tamaki means "ring/circle" which he points out to his grandmother in Chapter 77, and that his father had intentionally named him so to become someone who would "make a circle overcoming everything".

Honey and his brother have more a case of meaningful nicknames; Mitsukuni Haninozuka (sounds like, you guessed it, "Honey"), and Yazuchika Haninozuka, who turns out to be a fan of baby animals, specially chicks.

Medium Awareness: Just the anime, for Rule of Funny. There are frequent references to the audience, and Haruhi addresses them directly more than once, such as when she asks those viewers with blood type AB to not be offended by something Tamaki says.

Meganekko: Haruhi, though she's only seen wearing glasses for the first half of Chapter 1, and even then she looked uncannily like a boy.

Mega Twintails: Hikaru and Kaoru wear their hair this way when they crossdress for one of Tamaki's schemes.

Micro Monarchy: Tamaki and pals meet a princess from a tiny imaginary European country.

Mistaken for Gay: Near the end of the manga when most of the girls saw Tamaki and Haruhi having a close moment. That and they thought Haruhi just liked dressing up like a girl. They find out the truth later on.

Kyoya pretends to sexually harass Haruhi after the thugs at the beach incident to make her realize how vulnerable she is to boys and convince her it's good to apply some common sense every now and then. It's generally good advice, but it's rather nasty to threaten sexual assault just to make a point.

During Haruhi and Tamaki's date in the penultimate chapter, Honey at one point gushes over how cute Haruhi is and says he wishes he could date her too. This is when he's supposedly in a relationship with Reiko. Then again, it's Honey, who gushes over everything cute.

Mundane Object Amazement: All the boys in the extremely rich Ouran High School's Host Club are amazed at everyday 'commoner' things that Haruhi does or uses, like instant coffee, and saying things like "Commoners are so clever!".

Nerd Glasses: Haruhi's thick black frames are a clue to her frugal and resolutely practical nature—she normally wears contacts, so why waste money on fashionable glasses? They also serve to the make The Glasses Gotta Go more dramatic by disguising her "secret identity" as a girl.

Never My Fault: The Newspaper Club President blames the Ouran Host Club for the dropping sales of the newspaper, despite the fact that nobody reads their paper to begin with, due to it all being lame gossip and scandal.

No Name Given: Tamaki's mother in the anime. In the manga it's eventually revealed to be Anne Sophie.

Noodle People: Used for comedic effect in the anime, not seen in the manga.

No Romantic Resolution: The anime lacks a definite ending, though it implies that Tamaki/Haruhi is bound to happen.

Nose Bleed: In the manga Tamaki gets one of these when he sees Haruhi in a dress during their visit to the beach. Haruhi points it out. Tamaki, being the Idiot Hero, thinks he just bumped his nose and Honey's "first aid" only makes it worse.

Parodied between the Host Club and the Zuka Club. Both of them are hammy, have legions of fangirls, want Haruhi to join them etc.

Tamaki and Haruhi. They both share the ability to see through the core of a person's problems and (eventually) knows just what to say to make the character in question feel better or understand what they need to do. They're both without a mother (one dead, the other missing) and they're the only members of the club who don't have siblings.

No Swastikas: One scene involving the Zuka Club has them in orange military uniforms in front of a Nazi flag, except with the kanji for "woman" instead of a swastika.

Kyoya, to the point that the rest of the host club is scared of him in the mornings. Not that they aren't always scared of him. A side story in the manga shows that on a school day, waking Kyoya requires three alarm clocks and at least half an hour...and it was commented that he was running early that day.

The rumor goes that Honey's family was once in a military complex, and a soldier carelessly woke Honey up, and he BLEW THE PLACE UP, leaving only a bunny-shaped mushroom cloud, killing two entire Green Beret battalions. Tamaki is the one telling this story so take it with a grain of salt.

Haruhi. Oh boy, where do we start? When Kaoru told Haruhi he loved her she looked a little confused, probably assuming he meant he loved her as a friend. Haruhi's so oblivious that when Hikaru gets the guts to confess to her he asks "Will you go out with me? And I don't mean accompany me outside! I mean in the shojo sense!" Even then it took Haruhi a few moments to see he was asking her on a date. Even worse, when she suddenly began to blush and become flustered around Tamaki she thought it was due to a cold or that her heart was rejecting her, the idea that she could be in love hadn't even crossed her mind.

Hikaru as well. It takes him a damn long time to figure out.

Tamaki is probably the worst offender, going so far as to think his constant fawning for Haruhi could only mean that he sees her as his daughter.

Obviously Evil: Parodied, subverted and deconstructed with Kasanoda. He has the Face of a Thug, is the successor of a large Yakuza group (and trained to be thus), dresses like a Delinquent and easily aggravated, especially by his appearance and its effect on others. Because of this, he suffers from social isolation despite the fact that he's really a Nice Guy underneath it all.

Occidental Otaku: Renge is french and travels to Japan to meet Kyouya because she's a dating sim fan.

Ocular Gushers: Tamaki, Kaoru and Hikaru in response to Haruhi ("Cuuuuuute!!!"). Its more frequent in the manga.

Mori to Honey - the group even envisioned them in appropriate period-costumes when explaining the Morinozuka/Haninozuka family relationship. Subverted in that, despite Mori looking a lot older than Honey, they're the same age.

Tetsuya comes close to filling this role for Kasanoda; though he's only been with him for a few years, he certainly plays the part.

Shima to Tamaki - in the manga, [she not only helps Tamaki realize what he wants to do with his life, she helps the Host Club get to Tamaki to take him to his mother at the airport. In the anime, she's the one who convinces Kyoya that the Host Club should stop Tamaki from quitting school and and going off to France with Eclair since she thinks Tamaki's mother wouldn't want him to do that.

When a crossdressing female is considered the "normal one" in your club, that's really saying something.

Kyoya would count on certain occasions because he's doing the nuts and bolts stuff that makes the insanity possible.

O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In a short bonus, Mori suddenly turns cheerful and talkative, to the point even Haruhi is petrified (along with the rest of the Host Club except Honey). Turns out it's a side effect if he doesn't get enough sleep.

Many. Tamaki and Haruhi, Ranka and Kotoko (Haruhi's parents, who're also scaringly similar to Tamaki and Haruhi...), Honey and Reiko (a member of the Dark Magic Club), Mei and Kasanoda (hinted in the final volume).

In a platonic sense, there's how out of all the Host Club members, Tamaki quickly considered Kyouya to be his best friend, with the feeling eventually becoming mutual.

Orbital Shot: During Renge's first major confrontation with the male club.

Out-Gambitted: Tamaki's father and Kyoya's father, along with their companies, perfect a medicine that cures Tamaki's mother and ousts Tamaki's Evil Matriarch grandmother from her position as chairman of the Suoh company.

Pac-Man Fever: Whatever the twins were playing on their Game Boy Advance SP in the middle school flashback in Episode 9 of the anime, it had graphics about on par with the old Game-And-Watch series. Their Nintendo DS game later in the episode isn't much better.

Playboy Bunny: There is an aversion bonus chapter of the manga and Episode 12 of the anime by being stuffed (almost stuffed in the anime) into an Easter Bunny outfit by the rest of the hosts in desperation for fear that Honey would discover Usa-chan to have been stained upon waking up (which he does, actually, but Mori covers for the hosts).

Please Don't Leave Me: Chapter 80. Tamaki says something like this to Haruhi while on the way to the airport to see his mother after three years.

The Power of Friendship: A big theme in the series, that can be called "club family". Through friendship the hosts help each other and those outside the club.

Precision F-Strike: Haruhi says "ore" at least once early on and Tamaki gets very upset. No one else seems to mind in particular.

Race for Your Love: Or Race For Your Mother, in this case. In Chapter 80, the entire Host Club, including all their customers and the people Tamaki's helped throughout the course of the series, ensures that he arrives at the airport in time to see his mother for the first time in three years, before she leaves again.

Recursive Crossdressing: Some of the host club's customers mention that they think Haruhi would look good in a dress.

The twins often suggest a "game" to Tamaki at the least opportune moment (using secret agent code titles) usually to either save the club or impress Haruhi, and Tamaki even pits his own host members as rivals.

The Host Club has their share of club rivals, such as the school newspaper club (for customers) and the Zuka Club (for Haruhi).

The new transfer student Kanoya that Tamaki saves from getting kicked by a horse have the host club calling the real life version of his imaginary "Feminine Haruhi" and a momentary love triangle appears. Only at surface-level however as Tamaki shows no interest in Kanoya.

In the anime, this role was given to Lady Eclair, who has an arranged marriage Tamaki.

Rousseau Was Right: In the end, just like another very popular shoujo manga, all strife between the Host Club and other, "antagonistic" characters is not so much due to any one character being greedy, evil or unreasonable, but rather to tragic misunderstanding of each others feelings that is eventually overcome. Even Tamaki's grandmother is eventually played as sympathetic.

Scholarship Student: Haruhi, of course. It's the only way she could afford a school for rich kids.

Schoolgirl Lesbians: Everyone in the Zuka Club, the rivals to the Ouran Host Club, are lesbians.

Security Cling: Haruhi to Tamaki during the Beach Episode after he tells her she doesn't have to endure thunderstorms alone now that he's there for her.

Seen It All: The twins' twin maids have absolutely no responses to any prank that the twins try to pull on them.

Selective Obliviousness: Tamaki thinks of Haruhi as his daughter, believing his love for her to be platonic when it's actually romantic. In the manga, this is eventually explained to stem from a deep family complex rooted in his childhood, where his parents' romance caused his family to be broken. Because of this, he believes (albeit unconsciously) that if any romantic relations were to occur within his Host Club whom he proclaimed his own family, the same would happen to them.

Referenced in the Beach Episode of the anime. While trying to figure out Haruhi's fear, Mori approaches her with a harpoon. Her response? "Mori, uh, you're my sempai, not a sentai." The words "A pun...?" also appear on screen.

Benibara fan club is a huge deal. It's treated more like a college soriority than a high school club.

The Ootori family's heavily-armed private police force that Kyoya dispatched when Honey got lost at the pool. It was a very large pool. With rapids and animals like crocodiles and piranhas.

She Cleans Up Nicely: Haruhi is dolled up and used as bait to lure Kanako and Toru back together in Chapter 2. Add makeup and a long, straight black wig, and nobody except the hosts were able to recognize her (though Haruhi had to convince Toru at one point that they've never met).

Shipper on Deck: At the end of the anime, Tamaki's father and Kyoya's father state that it would be nice if they could become friends as their sons are... but they amiably state that perhaps it isn't possible because they each want Haruhi to marry their own son in the future. This doesn't take place in the manga.

Kaoru plays this part for Hikaru/Haruhi in the anime. He purposely puts them in several situations where it's just the two of them together, particularly the date episode.

Apart from Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru in the manga, Haruhi also shares a few moments in the anime with Mori and Kyoya that certainly sparked the interest in some fans. In fact, Honey is probably the only Host Club member with whom Haruhi hasn't shared any borderline intimate/romantic moments in either anime or manga.

Hikaru and Kaoru could count as the definition. Their fans may be as numerous as Tamaki/Haruhi's or Hikaru/Haruhi's, even though both anime and (especially) manga makes it clear that their "twincest" is all an act, and while their relationship is still very intimate, it never goes beyond platonic.

Tamaki and Kyoya have their fans too, probably stemming from how their relationship resembles a typical uke/seme one (or how about when Tamaki gave Kyoya a shoulder massage in the manga..?). The fact that Tamaki sees them as the "mommy and daddy" of the Host Club contributes to this. And funnily enough, Tamaki gets about as much upset when Kyoya is mad at him as he does when Haruhi is.

Some of this between Mori and Honey too, although very little, as the author might have thought it would be squick to many (since they're cousins, and Honey looks like a five year old).

Towards the end of the manga there's even some between Kaoru and Kyoya, one memorable moment being Kaoru blushing when Kyoya takes his shirt off. Granted he apparently was blushing at the "coolness" of what Kyoya was saying, but the timing of the blush is quite convenient.

Between Kyoya and Nanako Shouji in the post-ending bonus chapter taking place in Spain, who exploits traces of Belligerent Sexual Tension between them with Nanako in the end being implied to have developed feelings for him. Whether Kyoya reciprocated them however, is left unclear.

Shirtless Scene: Played straight most of the time, but played with when the twins gave out a picture of a topless Haruhi for money — it turns out, her head was photoshopped on Tamaki's body.

Shonen Hair: The twins. They're probably trying to invoke this trope on purpose. In the manga their hair looks much more natural and isn't quite as poofed out, although it's obvious they style it with hair gel most of the time.

Of RahXephon, of all things. One of the main characters from that series saying Lala... which is the magazine Ouran is published in. Could possibly be a shoutout to Haruhi's seiyuu, too, as one of Maaya Sakamoto's earlier seiyuu roles was in RahXephon. The fact that Studio BONES animated both series is also a factor.

In Episode 4, the film crew that Renge hires is explained by Kyoya to have been the same who filmed "the vampire movie 'Millenium Snow' last year". Millennium Snow is Hatori Bisco's previous work that she left unfinished before starting Ouran.

Renge makes several references to a "LaLa Magazine" in Episode 7. LaLa was the magazine Ouran was published in.

The twin's cheshire cat outfit in the Alice In Wonderland episode looks similar to the cheshire cat in Disney's 1951 version.

Kaoru kisses Hikaru on the cheek in the middle of recieving a scolding from him, to "share" the cheek kiss he had earlier given Haruhi. Hikaru is left somewhat stunned.

After Haruhi's confessed to Tamaki, both of them have a freak out to which Haruhi ends up saying she's not sure if she loves him or not. Before she can barely finish the sentence, Tamaki pulls her in for a kiss and asks her if she disliked it, and whether she did or not should make her know.note She shyly admits that she didn't dislike it.

Simple, yet Opulent: The school uniforms, for either gender, are very fancy, just not blatantly so.

The twins, who zigzag this trope depending on the situation. It's usually subverted whenever the camera focuses on them and played straight for comedic segments and during other character's focuses. They use this as a joke in-universe. They spend so much time together that they know the routine, but when they aren't acting, their real personalities show through.

Played straight with their maids, in the anime. Of their six total lines in the anime, five are delivered in perfect unison and they're always attached at the hip.

Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty: Tremendously rich boys in their tremendously rich school and in their club that panders to moe and other ideas of beauty. Yes, it doesn't get much shinnier than this.

Smug Snake: Lady Eclair. Have you seen that woman smirk? It's enough to make you dislike her even after she's revealed as a sympathetic rival. You just feel a little bad about it.

Also Kyouya/Kyoya. And let's not get started on his last name. Or Tamaki's.

Spoiled Sweet: Most of the host cubs's customers are rich girls with too free time on their hands, but mostly very kind hearted and affectionate.

Squee!: The girls who follow the club give a "Kyaaaaaa~!" squeal whenever something happens that they like.

Stay in the Kitchen; Invoked by Kyoya on Haruhi in the infamous "Merit Scene" and Justified: after she proved being too weak to ward off a couple of bullies, Kyoya makes it clear to Haruhi that thinking that her sex doesn't matter is a dangerously naive stance to hold, since she's clearly not strong enough to defend herself against bigger and stronger males. Plus, by being half naked and on top of her, he implicitly means that it wouldn't be that difficult to rape her as well, but Kyoya had no intention of doing such a thing to Haruhi, and she knows it. In the end, the point is made.

Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: In the first chapter of the manga, Haruhi is targeted by a Tamaki fan, who has her clothes thrown away. In another chapter, the Beribara club members suggest that there will be a 'maidens behind the gym' meeting if Haruhi messes the play up.

Straw Feminist: The Zuka Club is an entire club dedicated to straw feminism. They currently supply the page image for it and take the term "feminazis" to the most literal conclusion possible: nazi uniforms with a nazi salute and a nazi flag that uses the symbol for "women" in place of a swastika.

Straw Hypocrite: The Newspaper Club President, who only started the newspaper club to get popular, is disgusted by the Host Club's popularity.

Honey comes out of nowhere and single-handedly beats 20 grown men in SWAT team gear. It turns out he's from a family of martial arts experts. It's lampshaded by Tamaki.

Inverted when Haruhi faces off against two thugs at the beach and is promptly tossed off a bluff into the water: Tamaki sarcastically cites this trope while berating her for endangering herself so recklessly.

Haruhi has her First Kiss when Tamaki slips on a banana-peel and knocks her directly into the face of a pretty girl.

Tamaki ends up falling on her in a very suggestive position just as her father walks in.

Supporting Harem: Every boy who knows she's a girl (not quite, but close) falls for Haruhi, but it's obvious she's going to end up with Tamaki, the host club president. It's not over done though, and only one or two actively seek to win her over, and even for them it's more of a journey of character than anything. It's Lampshaded by Tamaki in one episode in which he famously (and unwisely) pegs himself and Haruhi as the romantic leads and the rest as the homosexual supporting cast.

Surprisingly Similar Stories: At the time when the story was slowly nearing its final chapters, Disney's Princess And The Frog came out, and alot of fans got a laugh out of how Tiana/Naveen were similar to Haruhi/Tamaki. To recap, they were both All Work VS All Play couples; Tiana being a poor, hardworking snarker with no interest in fun or romance, and Naveen a rich, conceited and funloving ladies' man with a naive outlook on life. In the end, their Character Development is also similar to that of Haruhi/Tamaki.

Sweet on Polly Oliver: Kasanoda develops a crush on Haruhi, but this is after he discovered she was female.

Sweet Polly Oliver: Haruhi. It's enforced by the rest of the Host Club; Haruhi herself doesn't care very much whether she's seen as a boy or a girl.

Also implied in the school physical episode. Tamaki grabs up Haruhi in an enthusiastic hug; within seconds, she's making an angry sound and demanding that he stop touching "those places."

That Syncing Feeling: Haruhi gets kidnapped by the Lobelia's Zuka Club and is made to sing in their play. Despite being poor at music, she sings nearly perfectly at rehearsal, which surprises her dad and Host Club members (who are spying on her.) Then a girl accidentally unplugs the CD player and it's shown that it's all lipsync. Points for Haruhi continuing to lipsync and not even notice that the music's stopped.

The show's ending theme also makes an appearance, as the ringtone Hikaru uses to I.D. when Tamaki is calling. When Hikaru is comforting Haruhi in the church (and puts his headset on her) the song plays again.

There's also a slow, waltz version of it used during the closing credits scenes in the final episode.

Throw the Dog a Bone: Seika Ayanokoji, the guest who bullies Haruhi in the first episode, is banned from the Host Club after her crimes are revealed and is clearly distraught — in all continuties but the drama, where Haruhi forgives her jealousy and she's welcomed back after a short suspension. She then apologizes to the Host Club by sending them a lifetime supply of commoner's coffee.

In the manga (also included in the live-action series) the first time the Host Club visits Haruhi's home, Honey goes to borrow the toilet, but ends up running back into Mori's arms in tears at how small it is.

In Chapter 55 of the manga, Kyoya is irritated by another set of worries Tamaki gives him involving a class trip to France. As a small revenge he proceeds to tell their customers and later Haruhi over the phone that Tamaki has diarrhea.

Another one in Chapter 62 when Hikaru manages to rile Tamaki up enough to make him shout loudly in front of everyone (including Haruhi) that he never "joy pees" (wetting oneself out of excitement,) "except maybe a few times in the past."

Token Evil Teammate: Kyoya is considered by everyone in the club to be more or less evil, especially compared to everyone else. Even the twins are afraid of him, but he's still mostly a good guy.

Toku: The live action drama uses a lot of special effects, making it a rare example of a shoujo-flavored tokusatsu series as well as one that doesn't focus on super heroes. Notably, the effects only come into play while inside the "private world" of the Host (or Black Magic) Club, and the cast regularly hangs a lampshade on its appearance.

Kyoya: (after Haruhi's accidental insult literally slams Tamaki into the wall) Ah, this is a new attack move. It does a lot of damage.

Toon Physics: The show has a lot of this; for example, Tamaki pulling a small television screen out of nowhere in "And So Kyoya Met Him."

Amusingly, this extends even to the live-action adaptation, by way of Toku-style special effects.

True Companions: Tamaki sees the Host Club as a family, to the point of assigning everyone roles within it... With Haruhi as his daughter, Kyoya as the "mother," the twins (according to one omake and the occasional brother/sister reference) as their "eldest sons" and Mori and Honey being the couple who lives next door... We wonder if Tamaki notices the Ho Yay or not. The fans sure do.

Twincest: Hikaru and Kaoru's schtick for the customers that like this sort of thing.

Twin Switch: The "Which one is Hikaru-kun Gaaame!!" Haruhi, who has known the twins for the least amount of time, seems to be the only one able to tell the difference. According to her, Hikaru is "one level meaner."

Twin Telepathy: During the Test of Courage chapter. After Hikaru and Kaoru are separated, Hikaru somehow manages to find Kaoru and explains that he had heard his twin's voice telling him where he was, even though Kaoru had no way of telling Hikaru his whereabouts and the latter could not have found out through someone else.

Twin Threesome Fantasy: As well as the excess amounts of Ho Yay and Twincest, this is part of Hikaru and Kaoru's shtick. They explain that a lot of the girls who sit at their table buy into this fantasy, and they use one of the girls to demonstrate why this idea is so popular.

Weak-Willed: Tamaki, of the "easily suggestible" variety. When told by Renge that he's "the lonesome prince" type, he jumps into the characterization without a backwards glance.

Wham Episode: Chapter 75, where Tamaki informs the Host Club that he's quitting after a talk with his grandmother, and tells Haruhi her debt has been paid so she's free to quit as well. It continues with Tamaki for the first time ever speaking coldly to Haruhi when she confronts him about his decision, and even shouting for her to "Shut up and leave! You're being a bother!" with a pissed expression when she attempts to talk directly to his father, leaving Haruhi to tears once she's at home (next to the fact that it starts to thunder.) The author might have even thought it became too harsh, for in the volume Tamaki's expression is changed from pissed to a more upset one, and his wording is toned down somewhat.

Wham Line: Conclusion from a magazine love test: "Congratulations! You're in love with him!"note Haruhi took the test while thinking of Tamaki...

Mori's little brother decides to form a new Host Club with Chika in "our brothers and Tamaki's legacy," but thanks to Chika only complying to join if animals are included, it becomes a zoo club instead.

Honey and Reiko get married after an awkward hand language proposal by Reiko.

Hikaru and Kaoru get the little sister they always wanted, and they enter a business of fashion and design together.

Mei and Kasanoda are strongly hinted to have become a couple. Mei also becomes a fashion designer while Kasanoda runs a flower shop.

Mori got married as well, and the author states she thought he'd be a popular and splendid family head.

Kyoya's fate on whether he was recognized to be a more suitable successor to his father than his brothers is left unresolved, because the author thought it was "always a future matter." She also thought he'd end up marrying a girl who'd bring merit to his family, although she also hopes that love would eventually sprout in their relationship''. Oh, and he got a cat that Hotta (his assistant) found.

Tamaki and Haruhi get married after Tamaki asks her father for approval, and Mei mentions in one of the panels that Haruhi became pregnant. The author also states that she thinks they were the first out of all the members to have children.

Wrong Genre Savvy: Tamaki thinks that it's a romantic anime in the third episode, so he and Haruhi are the protagonists and the rest of the boys are the "homosexual side cast." Somehow, while being Genre Savvy enough to know they are the protagonists, he seems to be unable to follow that statement to its conclusion: Namely, that they are love interests.

Yakuza: Kasanoda, prominently; it's said a few times Ouran students in the lower classes (C and D class) are there simply due to their family's financial influence.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy